Invincible
by Valric
Summary: Harry and Ginny are newly weds, Ron is on the verge of proposing to Hermione. But with a new madman on the loose they are thrown back into the world of the Dark Arts, and their lives turn back into one long fight to survive.
1. Prologue

Invincible

Invincible

Prologue

Harry wiped the sweat from his face and looked around the room. His wand was grasped firmly in his hand.

It was metallic, silvery and shiny. Everything was blurry and for a moment he thought his glasses must have fallen off. But it was the pain, phenomenal and exceeding what his scar had ever cause.

He groaned and rolled onto his back. She was here somewhere. And so was he.

Harry Potter took the pain on and got to his feet, staggering towards the door. It was wooden, out of place in the room of metal.

He raised his wand, spoke the blasting spell and the door was blasted from off its hinges. Harry stagged through the doors, seeing double as the pain crashed upon him like waves.

He screamed and it doubled, falling on his side and dropping his wand. It rolled away.

'Where are you?' Harry screamed. His eyes were squeezed shut and he slammed his fist into the floor.

He heard laughing, that maniac's laugh. It was loud and cold, sending shivers down his spine as it always did.

'Give her to me!' Harry roared, his eyes opening, the clear green eyes scanning the room through the pain.

'Give her back!'

Another metal room, identical to the other. Had he even gone through the door or was had he simply fallen back into the first room? But the door was intact, and so Harry took his wand up and tried to get to his feet.

And then the pain was gone, and it was so sudden, so surprising Harry stumbled.

And then he ran destroying the intact door.

The next room had three doors, and with strangled frustration Harry picked the left hand one, kicking it open. In one hand he held his wand, and then slowly he drew a knife from his belt.

It was a long metal passage way, and he slowly walked, pausing at the corner and peering around. The hallway was deserted.

_She was laughing as they walked through the muggle park, smiling cheerfully. He joined in, not a care in the world between the two newly weds._

Harry ran around the corner, his wand raised and ready, a curse on his lips. Another corner. He slowly moved around it.

_Out of nowhere an explosion._

_People were screaming, he was yelling for her to run, looking around frantically. Who did it?_

_He ran towards the smoke cloud, sensing the magic, and the raw power he felt was frightening. He turned and saw her, running towards their house when he came._

Finally, another door. He kicked it down, and he was into another room altogether.

It was dark, the lights off, but computer screens lit the floor up, and Harry walked over to the computers, looking at them in confusion.

He searched the room for any sign of life, but found nothing. He frowned. What was going on?

He looked at the screens now. On each screen was a word in big bold writing. He read them and then his eyes widened in shock.

**YOU WERE TOO SLOW. LEFT HAND CORNER. RUN FAST.**

In the left hand corner he found a small capsule, a timer ticking down. Harry swore, recognising the magical bomb that had exploded in the park.

_Harry yelled in horror, running towards her, whipping out his wand but not daring to fire while she was between him and her captor._

_He ran as hard as he could, but suddenly his legs were taken out from under him and he crashed too the turf. He looked back where the explosion had gone off and saw a second man walking towards him, wand out._

_His face was covered with a black mask. The mask was a face contorted in pain, and Harry shivered at the realism of the detail etched into the face._

_He grabbed his wand and fired a curse at the man, but he simply cast a shield spell and then cast a curse of his own back at Harry. Harry rolled out of the way barely in time._

_The curse hit where he had been a moment before and the grass erupted into flames._

_Harry got to his feet and ran, feeling the grass with his hand. It was slippery and slick, he frowned in confusion; it certainly wasn't dew._

_Then with horror he saw the fire growing, spreading along the grass at a phenomenal rate.  
The grass was covered in oil._

_Harry ran as the fire chased him, casting a water spell at the fire, but it absorbed the water and grew._

_The masked man and his companion flew above the fire, with no aid of broom, and the two of them held her between them._

'_Ginny!' Harry yelled in agony._

_He stopped for a moment, but they were directly over the fire. He couldn't go back in there…_

_The fire caught him, and Harry cast a shield spell over him as the burning heat raged all around him, barely being kept out by his spell._

_He closed his eyes as the searing heat drew tears._

'_Ginny!' He screamed over the raging flames._

The timer simply read 5:04.

Harry looked at it for half a second and then knew he couldn't disarm it. He didn't have the slightest clue how to.

So once again he was running, back out the door, along the passage and out the door. Where was he? He had heard the laugh; the mad man was in the building.

And there he was, the mask on his face. Harry yelled in fury and leapt at him. His knife flashed through the air, but he was waiting for Harry and blocked the knife with one of his own.

'Where is she?' Harry roared.

Beneath the mask he smiled.

'Not here obviously,' he said. His voice was high and full of madness, and every syllable sent a shiver down his spine.

'Tell me!' Harry shouted.

The man pushed him away, breaking the knife connection, and Harry stood and stared at him.

'Who the hell are you?' Harry asked.

'I am myself,' he said, and laughed. It was a high laugh, insane and scary. Harry tried to stop goose bumps sprouting all over his body.

'Take off the mask,' Harry said coldly. 'Take it off so I can see you before you die.'

The man shook his head animatedly, his long hair falling over his mask. Harry growled despite himself, and once again he laughed.

'Come on!' He taunted. 'Come and get me!'

He bounced on his feet, laughing manically, and Harry threw his knife at him. The man ducked the knife whizzed overhead.

'Oh ho!' He cried. 'So close!'

'WHO ARE YOU?' Harry screamed.

There was silence for a moment.

'Call me…,' he said slowly. 'Call me Voldemort; I hear he was pretty tough.'

'He was,' Harry growled.

'Yeah… got nothing on me though,' the man said, laughing loud and long.

'You're nothing compared to him,' Harry snarled.

'Really?' The man said. 'Well that's such a shame! And how did you defeat such a man?'

'Why did you take her?' Harry asked.

'I wanted to see just how powerful you were,' the man said, spinning the knife in his hand. 'I heard about this Voldemort and his power for so many years. Well where I'm from, everyone's scared of _me_. So I had to come here and find this man, didn't I?'

'What?'

'I had to kill him, defeat him, show the world what power really is, instead of some abandoned school kid who split his soul half a dozen times. And then _you_ kill him, and now you're meant to be the most powerful wizard,' the man said. 'In the world!' He added, raising his hands in wonder. 'No one in this world can match you!'

Harry stayed silent.

'So now I have to kill you,' the man said. 'But that would be so easy. I don't want to just kill you! I want to do more! I want to, god I don't know what I want!' He laughed. 'But I knew a good place to start was with your girl…'

'What did you do with her?' Harry asked softly.

'Well if you can get out of here then maybe I'll tell you,' the man said. 'But I mean the clocks ticking, and quite frankly I, well the only way out is by foot, don't try Apparate out of here, that'd be quite painful.'

'And if I just kill you?' Harry yelled.

'Well then this place blows, and you never know, your girl could be in here,' the man said. 'I just, I just don't know!' He laughed.

'If I kill you everything blows up?' Harry asked. 'How?'

'Well, you know, I got this thing, dunno how you use it… guess you press the… the red button,' the man said, shrugging and taking out a black box with a red button in the middle. 'Looks like… like a _detonator_ doesn't it?'

He moved out of Harry's way and indicated him to go past.

'I'll kill you,' Harry said coldly.

'Well there certainly is a little fight in _you_ isn't there?' The man said. 'Now off you go!'

Harry walked past him, never taking his eyes from the mask. He walked backward to the wall and then turned the corner.

He sprinted along the hallways, through the doors, and then found himself in the second room he had come too, and the pain, so powerful and incredible, crashed onto him once again.

He yelled out but kept running, back into the first room where the pain was less, and then he reached out for the door…

But his body had taken too much, and he fell to the floor and blacked out.


	2. Chapter 1: Convicted Criminals

Invincible

Invincible

Chapter One: Convicted Criminals

Harry woke up with a groan.

His first reaction was surprise he was waking up, and his second was to sit up and look around.

He was in his old room in Hogwarts. He in the four-poster bed, silky sheets and all, in a large, round room on his own.

'Yeah ok…' He said slowly.

'Welcome back,' Neville Longbottom said, walking into the room. Harry nodded in acknowledgement.

'How'd I end up here?' Harry asked.

He slid from the bed and onto his feet. He cast his eyes around the room, looking for any sign of disturbance. He was learning to be careful once again. He was slipping back into his war skin, and he was hating it.

'It's safe,' Neville said, noticing his scan.

Harry nodded but his eyes kept moving.

'Ron brought you here,' Neville said. 'He got your note, and found you unconscious.'

'What was I doing?' Harry asked.

Neville frowned.

'What do you mean?' Neville asked.

'Well was I still or writhing in pain,' Harry asked him, walking around the room slowly.

'Uh… why?' Neville asked.

'Just curious,' Harry said, finally convinced everything was safe. 'So I take it I was still in pain?'

'Indeed,' Neville said softly.

'O.K then,' Harry said. 'Where's Ron?'

'Downstairs, eating,' Neville said with a grin. Harry laughed loudly, and abruptly stopped as _his_ laugh played in his mind.

'I'll go say hello,' Harry said. 'And thank you.'

Neville nodded.

'No problem,' he said.

'Oh, no I meant I was going to thank Ron, all you did was give me a bed!' Harry said dryly. 'He did all the real work!'

He went to leave the room but Neville had one last question.

'Harry who did this?'

Harry turned around to face him.

'I don't know Neville. He's got a mask with a human face in pain, but apart from that I just don't know.'

Ron Weasley was munching down a bacon and egg sandwich when Harry walked in. He looked up and made a noise that was somewhere between 'Hello' and 'Hey'.

'Nice to see you too,' Harry teased, grinning.

Ron shrugged and swallowed his mouthful.

'I'm hungry,' he said. Harry snorted in amusement.

'Nah, it's good to see you,' Harry said. 'And thanks for saving my ass back there.'

'No problem,' Ron said. He looked seriously at Harry for a moment and shuddered. 'What was that place? I walked in and all I could feel was pain…'

'I know,' Harry said.

'What happened?'

Harry took a deep breath and explained.

'We were walking in the park,' he started slowly. 'Then someone let off a magic bomb. People were screaming, all hell was breaking loose. I told Ginny to go home while I checked it out.'

'And she didn't make it home?' Ron asked quietly, putting his sandwich on his plate slowly. Harry looked around the Great Hall helplessly.

'No,' Harry said finally. 'Someone grabbed her, and then the man I went after, the one who sent me the note, lit the place on fire. The grass was covered in oil and everything just lit up.'

'How did they get out?' Ron asked in confusion.

'They flew,' Harry sighed. 'I was running from the fire, and then they both grabbed Ginny and flew into the air.'

'Then you got the note,' Ron said slowly. 'Went into their trap, got knocked unconscious and then I saved you right?'

'Glorifying yourself just a little bit?'

'Not at all,' Ron said, leaning back in his chair.

Harry looked up at the ceiling which was dark.

'What time is it?' He asked.

'Bout three in the morning,' Ron said. He yawned loudly and stretched.

'So that's why everyone was asleep,' Harry said. 'Neville stuck me in the Gryffindor dorm.'

'Yeah, I'm in the teacher's lounge,' Ron said. 'I get to sleep on a couch.'

'Lucky you,' Harry said, raising his eyebrows.

Ron shrugged and got to his feet.

'Yeah… Anyway I'm going to get some sleep,' Ron said tiredly. 'We'll work things out tomorrow.' Harry nodded and got to his feet as well.

'See you in the morning,' Harry said.

'Yeah night,' Ron answered, and they went their separate ways.

Harry woke once again the Gryffindor dorm, and when he went downstairs he noticed some sixth and seventh year Gryffindors staring at him with undisguised amazement and awe.

'Morning,' Harry said to one group of girls who were staring at him with least disguise. They giggled and turned away from him, and at any other time he would have smiled. But not today.

He walked into the Great Hall and saw that, once again, Ron was sitting at their old table eating a sandwich.

'Ham and cheese today,' Ron said as he saw Harry walking over to him. Harry smiled.

'Nice,' Harry said. They were silent for a moment as Harry reached out for some sandwich making materials of his own.

'So…' Ron said slowly.

'We need a plan,' Harry said. Ron nodded.

'Where do we start?' Ron asked before taking a chunk out of his sandwich. Harry frowned in annoyance.

'No idea,' he said. 'I don't know who this guy is, or even what he looks like under his mask.'

Neville walked into the Great Hall, giant bags under his eyes and a triumphant smile upon his face.

'I do,' Neville said.

Ron and Harry looked up at him in astonishment.

'Really?' Harry asked.

'Indeed,' Neville said. 'I did some reading. There are all sorts of books on this guy. He's a myth, a legend to scare children.'

'Sounds like Voldemort after Harry beat him the first time,' Ron said. 'A figure of evil to scare us.'

Neville nodded in agreement.

'But this guy, well he's a lot smarter than Voldemort,' Neville said. 'He isn't the same evil. Voldemort just killed and destroyed.'

'And this guy?' Harry asked.

'He plays _games_ with people,' Neville said slowly, and Harry heard a hint of fear in his voice. 'He takes everything from someone, messes with them, and puts them through horrors beyond imagination. And then he lets them think they've won.'

'But they haven't, have they?' Ron said softly.

'No, then he kills the people they care about,' Neville said. 'And then them.'

'Example?' Harry asked. Neville took a deep breath.

'Amy Sullivan,' Neville began. 'She led the fight against him when he first came to power.'

'Who is he?' Harry asked.

'No one knows,' Neville said. 'No name is given, but the mask you described to me helped me figure out who we're dealing with.'

'So this Amy Sullivan,' Ron said, getting back onto the point. 'What happened to her?'

'First her sister and brother disappeared,' Neville said with his eyes down cast. 'Then she was forced into a maze where she had to find her siblings on a timer. She saved her sister but not her brother. He died.'

Harry and Ron's eyes widened as they began to see small similarities. Ginny was kidnapped. Harry in the metal maze and the race out.

'And then she and her brother left and thought they were free,' Neville said sadly. 'But it wasn't over. This guy kidnaps four year old daughter. The little girl just disappears. And then he tells her in order to save her daughter she must kill her brother.'

Ron let out a breath of horror.

'So she had to kill him, and then she and her daughter left,' Neville said. 'And then a week later they found her and her daughter dead.'

Harry and Ron sat in shocked silence.

'This guy is… insane,' Neville said quietly, looking at Harry in the eyes. 'You've got find Ginny, and you've got to do it fast.'

Harry nodded with grimness.

Then Neville got up and with a wave of his hand over his head, he left the Great Hall. Ron and Harry sighed and looked at the table glumly.

'We've got nothing,' Harry said gloomily. 'We got absolutely nothing. Nothing except that he will kill, torment and completely pick me to pieces. And all because he wants to show he's stronger than me.'

Ron and Harry remained in a dark silence for the better part of an hour before an owl flew in through the roof and landed beside Ron. He picked the newspaper from its leg and with a sigh leant back and read it.

And then with a gasp he got to his feet so suddenly that his chair fell to the floor. Harry looked up with a sudden feeling of total apprehension.

Silently Ron handed him the newspaper. Harry read it aloud to himself in shock.

'Harry Potter Kills Wife and Minister,' Harry said slowly. He looked up at Ron. 'Harry Potter has been convicted with the murder of his newly wed wife, Ginny Weasley, and the Minister of Internal Affairs. His wand print has been found on the bodies of both the Minister and the body of Mrs. Weasley who was found at the Ministry of Magic doorstep…'

'The bottom,' Ron said.

Harry read the last line.

'The Aurors office has set a team of twenty to capture Mr. Potter who is rumoured to be at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…'

Harry and Ron looked at each other.

Then they were running, Harry to the Gryffindor Dorm and Ron to the teacher's lounge. The girls that had giggled at him were still in the Common Room when Harry flew inside, the Fat Lady opening for him without dispute, and Harry grabbed his wand from his bedside table.

When he arrived back in the Great Hall, Ron was waiting with a small knapsack.

'Let's go,' Ron said.

They walked out of the Great Hall and into the grounds, heading for the school boundaries and to Apparate to safety.

'Where will we go?' Ron asked.

'Godric's Hollow,' Harry said immediately. 'I've got a safe house there.' Ron nodded and they continued there walk in the grounds at a pace.

'Do you think she's really dead?' Harry asked after a while.

'No,' Ron said, though his voice lacked conviction.

They were a hundred metres from the gates when the Aurors arrived. Harry saw the first one in the bushes, the second on the top of the wall, hidden behind a large spike.

'Oh shit…' Ron murmured.

'Where are the other… eighteen?' Harry asked, a smile emerging on his face.

'You're enjoying this?' Ron asked in shock.

'No, but they've messed up,' Harry said, still walking.

'How?' Ron asked hopefully.

'Well we're what, fifty metres from the gate?' Harry said in amusement. 'They can't stop us.'

'I don't know…' Ron said doubtfully.

'Run.'

They sprinted towards the gate, and immediately the world around them burst into life as the Aurors emerged from bushes and behind trees and started firing at them.

Harry and Ron threw their wands up, casting shield charms that saved them from the curses.

They reached the wall, and with a flick of their wands were launched into the air. The air beneath them through them over the wall and they landed heavily and rolled to their feet, sprinting.

'Three… two… one…'

They turned as they ran, and suddenly found themselves running along the footpath in Godric's Hollow. They slowed to a stop and breathed heavily.

'Told… you…' Harry panted. Ron shrugged, breathing just as heavily.

When they had got their breath back they walked towards Lily and James Potter's former home, now simply a wreck, and into the ruins. Harry looked around for a moment before find what he was looking for.

He flung back the trap door and jumped through the hole.

'Come on!' Harry yelled back to Ron.

Ron looked doubtfully at the dark hole before leaping in as well. He hit the concrete floor lightly, and Harry cast a light spell, and he looked around the room.

It was dank and dripping, much like the dungeons of Hogwarts. Ron found a chair and sat down on it with a sigh that was half content and half annoyed.

'When you said safe house I actually imagined a house,' Ron said dryly. Harry shrugged and lit a lamp sitting on a table in the middle of the room. Apart from his chair and the table there was only one other chair which Harry sat down heavily in.

'Where do we sleep?' Ron asked. Harry shrugged.

'We'll have to conjure sleeping bags,' Harry said. 'I don't usually try to stay around here.'

'I can see why…' Ron said grumpily.

'But we haven't got time for sleep,' Harry said, suddenly pacing around the room. 'We have to work out what to do next.'

'How did you find where that guy was after the explosion?' Ron asked.

'He left a note in my letterbox,' Harry said. Ron raised his eyebrows.

'Creative,' he said. 'Did you check your letter box?'

Harry got to his feet and turned on the spot, disappearing, and Ron sighed and leant back in the uncomfortable chair.

A moment later Harry returned with a lamp.

'Nothing,' Harry said, sitting down glumly.

They sat in silence for a long time, and then Ron got to his feet, a look of triumph on his face.

'Let's go back to where I found you!' Ron exclaimed, a look of cheeriness on his face. 'Maybe we'll find something there!'

Harry raised his eyebrows sceptically, but didn't say anything and they got to their feet and left.

Shortly After Ron Saved Harry

_He walked through his lair; there couldn't be any other word for it could there?_

_It was dark, gloomy and he laughed as he looked around, feeling like a villain from a superhero movie. Except in those movies the hero always won._

_It was this thought, the thought of how the hero always saved his girl and they all lived happily ever after, that made him first think of it._

_He pulled out a knife, spinning it in his hands, relishing the feel of the metal hilt. Cursing someone was so boring, he thought. Where's the fun of pointing some wood, saying a few words and then it's all over? No, he preferred the feel as his knife entered the skin, twisting it and watching their eyes widen with pain, their screams…_

_He laughed and bounced in the air, twisting the knife round and round his fingers. He kicked the door open, and the red headed figure looked up at him, her eyes dark and tired._

'_Well hello gorgeous,' he said, laughing._

_Ginny said nothing._

'_Come on, I put on my best clothes for this!' He said, laughing louder._

_Ginny looked at him in his jacket and jeans; muggle clothes. She frowned in confusion, but still didn't talk._

'_Maybe you need a little bit of help?' He said, walking forward. He stroked her cheek, and she felt repulsed at his touch. 'Maybe if I cut your neck open you'll find it easier to get the words out? Yes?'_

_She swallowed, but still wouldn't speak._

_He leaned in until their lips were only a hairs breadth apart, the mask of a face contorted in pain screaming at her._

'_Why do you hide behind a mask?' She asked him. He raised his eyebrows._

'_Why not?' he asked her. 'Why do you?'_

'_What?' Ginny asked in confusion._

'_Why do you wear a mask that hides your emotions, your dreams, ambitions, from the world?' He asked her. 'Why do you pretend to like something when you really hate it, so you're not rude? Why does the world hide from each other?'_

'_What is wrong with you?' She screamed at him, straining against the bonds that tied her to a metal chair that was welded to the floor._

'_Now there's some life!' He shouted happily, pulling back and raising his hands in the air. 'That's what I'm talking about!'_

_She glared at him._

_He twirled the knife around in his hands._

'_Do you know why I wear muggle clothes?' He asked her softly. She shook her head._

'_Not a clue.'_

'_I wear them because unlike wizards, there are some muggles that can explode!' He said, showing her with his hands. 'They just let someone know what they really think!'_

_Ginny was silent._

'_So what would you do if I said I was going to kill you?' He asked her, suddenly leaping towards her and pressing the knife to her neck._

_Ginny was silent, and now she was trembling with fear._

'_Would you be defiant?' He asked her. 'Would you put your mask on and pretend that you're not scared when inside you just want to scream?'_

'_You won't kill me,' she said defiantly. 'You need me to trap Harry.'_

'_Really?' He asked her._

_He drew the blade back and then it lunged forward like it was alive and drove into her stomach. Ginny gasped in pain._

'_You think so?' He asked._

_He twisted the knife and she screamed in pain._

'_I can get Harry Potter without you,' he said. 'I don't need his girl.'_

_He let go of the knife and Ginny ripped it out, staring up at him, gasping for air._

'_Who the hell are you?' She screamed with the last of her breath. He smiled and turned around, walking towards the door._

'_I'd tell you,' he said. 'But it won't matter considering where you're going.'_

_He paused at the door._

'_I would have told you…' He said slowly. 'To call me…'_

_Ginny slumped forward, and with a shrug he walked out of the room._


End file.
